Mansion House 2025: The Fintech Industry Reacts

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave her first Mansion House speech and it wasn’t one where she played it safe. Reeves said she wants to change how the UK’s financial system is set up and help the economy grow. She sees the financial industry, especially payments, as a key part of the government’s plan for the country’s economy

Reeves wants to make the UK a leader in finance again and thinks the way to do this is by using new technology and making sure the rules are transparent and work well. She talked about how important it is for the UK to be open to new ideas and to be a place where companies want to invest and grow. This means changing some of the legacy systems to allow for new and better ways.

Reeves thinks the UK can be a world leader in this area, making it easier and cheaper for people and businesses to send and receive money which can help businesses grow and make it easier for people to manage their money. Reeves also talked about the need to make the financial system safer and more secure. This means making sure that banks and other financial companies are strong and can handle problems if they arise. It also means protecting people from fraud and scams. She believes that if people trust the financial system, they will be more likely to use it, which will help the economy grow.

Another key part of Reeves speech was about making sure that everyone benefits from economic growth, and wants to make sure that people all over the country have access to good jobs and opportunities. This means investing in education and training, and making sure that businesses are creating jobs in all parts of the UK. Reeves also said that it’s important for the government to work with businesses and other organizations to achieve these goals.

She believes that by working together, they can create a better financial system and a stronger economy for everyone. In short, Reeves’ speech was about making the UK a leader in finance, especially in payments, while also making the system safer and more fair.

Commenting on the UK Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, Oscar Berglund, Head of Business Development, Trustly said: “It is encouraging see a strategy that recognises the power of Open Banking and positions the UK as a global hub for digital financial services. In particular, the commitments to establish – via the Payments Vision Delivery Committee – an innovative new model to design and deliver the next generation of retail payments infrastructure, and to bring forward a Payments Forward Plan by the end of this year.

“The initiatives outlined for the payments sector, along with Smart Data and Open Finance plans, are crucial to unlocking real-time, secure, and frictionless payments – the very foundation of a future-proofed digital economy. The regulatory support and investment in data-sharing frameworks are exactly the type of enablers that will help firms in the payments sector continue to scale and deliver innovative payment solutions that benefit both businesses and consumers.

“We look forward to working with regulators and industry partners to make this payments vision come to life.”

Commenting on the UK Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy and the Chancellor’s package of “Leeds Reforms” to financial services, Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance said: “This is a strong bundle of reforms that will boost FinTech growth in the UK. We welcome significant regulatory reforms by regulators to speed up authorisations and senior manager approvals, and launch a new FCA and PRA scale up unit providing dedicated regulatory support to help FinTech firms grow and scale faster. These address barriers identified by our FinTech founders and our Unicorn Council and bring to life our proposals for bridging the ‘regulatory valley of death’.

“We are also delighted to see greater momentum around driving more capital into the ecosystem, including a new Listings Task Force, and are looking forward to seeing more details about this initiative. We at Innovate Finance are proud to play a key role in helping drive this increased investment working in partnership with the City of London Corporation and the British Business Bank to connect start-ups and scale-ups with investors.

“The establishment of a new Retail Payments Infrastructure Board enacts proposals Innovate Finance developed with members of the Government’s Payments Vision Engagement group, and will help accelerate the design and delivery of next generation payments infrastructure and fully involve the FinTech ecosystem, consumers and merchants.

“The reforms also adopt our call for an ambitious strategy to fully digitalise the whole of UK capital markets, enabling the use of blockchain and AI across our financial market infrastructure and testing of stablecoins in the digital securities sandbox. We now need to see a more competitive approach to stablecoin regulation by the UK regulators.

“The Bank of England has raised the assets threshold for additional MREL requirements for scaling banks – adopting one change we called for but falling short on other measures to provide a proportionate regime which could unlock further growth and lending to small firms.

“We are very pleased to see the adoption of so many key proposals which we have raised on behalf of UK FinTech. The UK has a world-leading FinTech and financial innovation ecosystem, powering British jobs and exports, and driving growth across the nation. However, other countries are quickly gaining pace, so it is critical that the government, regulators and industry urgently work together to increase support for this thriving sector of our economy. Today’s package is a welcome step. We look forward to supporting implementation and continuing to encourage even further and faster progress, including on areas like open finance, stablecoin and digital ID.”

Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, said: “The Leeds Reforms set out a clear and confident vision for how the UK’s financial system can better support growth, innovation, and investment across the economy.

“As a bank dedicated to established businesses, the reforms also help unlock much-needed capital investment for the vital SME sector – the UK’s real economy.

 “Ensuring a balanced, competitive environment for these businesses and the UK’s financial system as a whole is vital to securing growth – and we’re pleased with the steps taken today.”

Robin Anderson, Head of Product Management at Tribe Payments: “Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House update signals a real shift from lip service to action on modernising the UK’s regulatory environment, which is encouraging to see. For companies like Tribe, who work with banks and fintechs to bring new payment and banking products to market fast, speed and clarity are everything. Faster decisions and sharper frameworks can make all the difference in time-to-market – and ultimately, in getting better financial services into the hands of the people and businesses who need them.

Whether its launching SoftPOS tech to kill the queue for merchants and open up cost-effective acceptance for SMEs, building embedded finance solutions that make payments invisible for users but meaningful for brands, or scaling modular banking stacks that help financial institutions grow without overhauling infrastructure, a smarter regulatory track delivers real-world results.

And the renewed focus on regional innovation is long overdue – fintech doesn’t stop at the M25! We’ve seen first-hand the potential of tech and talent across the UK; now we need the conditions to turn that potential into progress.”

Sacha Herrmann, CFO, Soldo: “The Chancellor’s focus on growth-driven reform and the need for fiscal stability will be welcome news to businesses that continue to navigate the UK’s complex economic landscape. But for many, particularly scale-ups and mid-sized firms, sustainable growth depends not just on access to capital, but on control over how money moves through the business.

“As the government works to modernise the regulatory environment, it must also create the conditions for organisations to manage spending with agility and transparency. From capital allocation to everyday operational expenditure, better visibility and control over financial resources will be essential to ensure growth is both scalable and sustainable

“As the Lord Mayor noted, today’s startups are tomorrow’s unicorns. And tomorrow’s unicorns need a smarter, more strategic approach to financial management now.”

Comment from Elkhan Nasibov, Group Managing Director, Guavapay:“We welcome the Chancellor’s ambition to make the UK the fintech capital of the world as outlined in the Mansion House speech. The announcement of the first-ever Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness sector plan, alongside a renewed promise to deliver the National Payments Vision, is a strong signal to the industry that fintech remains a key pillar of UK economic growth.

It’s particularly encouraging to see an emphasis on enabling small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from tailored support and flexible financial infrastructure through every part of their growth journey. Fintech can have a better pipeline of skills, support with regulatory needs, and improved access to finance thanks to an uplift of the British Business Bank’s financial capacity to £25.6 billion.

We’ve seen first-hand the international recognition British fintech attracts—most recently during our trade visit to the Gulf led by The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alastair King. Tainotech was proud to represent its flagship company, Guavapay, where UK leadership in digital payments was strongly acknowledged. Guavapay’s mission to deliver seamless, secure payment solutions that help individuals and businesses of all sizes thrive aligns strongly with the Government’s commitment to a forward-thinking, technology-driven financial ecosystem.”